The Satanic Temple is taking an advertising company to court over its refusal to run billboards touting the group’s “religious abortion ritual,” which it claims help Satanists bypass abortion regulations in some states.
According to Disrn, TST announced last week that it is suing Lamar Advertising in Arkansas state court for religious discrimination.
By categorizing abortion as a religious ritual, TST claims that its followers can claim religious exemption from such state regulations as mandatory waiting periods, counseling, ultrasounds, and more.
In the suit, TST alleges that Lamar refused to run eight billboards in Arkansas and Indiana promoting the “ritual,” which the group describes as a “sacramental act that confirms the right of bodily autonomy.”
TST says in the suit that the group submitted five designs to Lamar to be put up near pro-life pregnancy centers.
In one design, a bowl of cake batter is labeled “not a cake,” while an image of a sperm and egg joining is labeled “not a baby,” declaring that “Our religious abortion ritual averts many state restrictions.”
According to the suit, Lamar rejected the billboards, claiming that their content was “misleading and offensive.”
As we reported back in August, TST ran a sickening raffle with the grand prize being a voucher to cover the expense of an abortion in order to fundraise their “religious abortion” rights campaign.
In the raffle, Satanists could enter to win an abortion voucher worth up to $2,500, a Zoom meet-and-greet with TST co-founder Lucien Greaves, assorted TST merchandise, or a “religious abortion kit” consisting of a TST compact mirror and a ritual instruction sheet.
The minimum donation required to win the free abortion voucher was $200.
Explaining their view of abortion as a religious ritual, TST explains:
The Satanic abortion ritual provides spiritual comfort and affirms bodily autonomy, self-worth, and freedom from coercive forces with the affirmation of TST’s Seven Tenets. The ritual is not intended to convince a person to have an abortion. Instead, it sanctifies the abortion process by instilling confidence and protecting bodily rights when undergoing the safe and scientific procedure.
HD Editors Note: This is not the first time the Satanic Temple has tried to claim Abortion is a ‘Protected’ Religious Ceremony. In August, TST brazenly insisted that killing an unborn baby in a ‘ritual’ abortion is no different from Christian communion or baptism.
“The Satanic Temple is proud to announce its Religious Abortion Ritual, a ceremony rooted in our deeply-held beliefs,” the group said in a video announcement on YouTube. “Thyself is thy master. Hail Satan!”
The disturbing announcement is part of the cult’s new plan to overturn pro-life laws using a religious freedom argument.
“Many states have laws that interfere with our members’ ability to practice their religious beliefs,” said Satanic Temple spokesperson Jane Essex. “No Christian would accept a mandatory waiting period before they can partake in communion. No Christian would tolerate a law that insists state counseling is necessary before someone can be baptized. Our members are justly entitled to religious liberty in order to practice our rituals as well.”
This is how the Satanic Temple described its “ritual” for slaughtering unborn babies in surgical abortions:
Prior to receiving any anesthetic or sedation, look at your reflection to be reminded of your personhood and your responsibility to yourself. Focus on your intent. Take deep breaths, and make yourself comfortable. When you are ready, say the Third Tenet and Fifth Tenet aloud. You may now undergo the surgery. After the surgery is completed and any anesthetic has worn off, return to your reflection, and recite your personal affirmation. Feel doubts dissipating and your confidence growing as you have just undertaken a decision that affirms your autonomy and free will. The religious abortion ritual is now complete.
